One thing I really wanted to incorporate into this scenario was the use of captured equipment. So far I have succeeded with fortress units, an example of which is below. This is a reduced version of the original Soviet unit, there will be no replacements for any of the devices and as you can see the unit lacks Support. So you have to stack Japanese units with it to get best results.

All the Soviet and British fortresses (Hong Kong, Singapore and Georgetown) get the same treatment.

I also intend to include some Japanese airgroups which use Soviet planes, again with no replacements, and some ships too. Plus of course some "Hiwi" analog militia type LCUs.

As a sort of corollary, the Aussies get to use some British stuff (ships) which while not exactly being captured just happened to be in the vicinity when the British Empire collapsed.

In the picture below some FW-190 G8 equivalents (the Ki-65-1b "Kurt") escort torpedo carrying Peggies on a naval strike against a USN Air Combat TF forming up at Manila.

The basic idea is that both the IJN and IJA adopt long-range FW-190 derivatives as their "high-tech" fighter, while retaining the low-tech Oscars, Tojos and Zeroes in a complementary role. This is the basic radial engined FW-190 A/F/G, not the Dora or Ta-152. I can't see any real reason why Japan could not have done this in reality. The planes will all have a service rating of 2, and will be land-based only.

As a corollary, I think that I will likely remove the Jack, George, Sam, Shinden and Frank completely. The Ki-83 will be there though. I think I already said that no jet or rocket powered aircraft will feature for Japan.

To balance this potentially game changing aircraft, Allied airgroups will generally arrive much earlier so as to have numerical superiority from the start.

Those two later variants are not available at game start. The earlier ones are less uber and there will be very few of them on the map at the beginning. Production will have to be ramped up pretty much from nothing.

Also consider that, Ki-83 excepted, these are the best fighters that Japan will be flying in 1946.

Georges also do that. Is it really necessary to remove all the late war fighters? I'd love a jet shinden and some of the more obscure models could be useful with a few tweaks. I can see the george/frank falling by the wayside but definitely leave the sam in to replace the zero.

I only want planes in there that were actually built beyond prototypes. So no Sam ...

My idea is not to create a "JFB Wet Dream" scenario. I just want to incorporate some reasonable tech transfer from Germany that while giving a significant boost to Japan still leaves it essentially way behind the US looking over the whole game (43 to 46). The core assumption (for aircraft) is that Japan basically cannot deal with anything that is not powered by radial engines.

To divert slightly, on the land war front I am thinking that a Pz-III equivalent might be good, along with something approximating to the PaK 40. Both are well within Japan's industrial capabilities. The Panzerfaust makes sense too, albeit not modelled directly.

With respect, Japan was incapable of producing enough of its own designs of equipment for its army. Are you postulating an increase in the industrial base as well? I assume the resources for that come from Siberia and Manchuria?

Japan will indeed inherit the core of the Soviet industry in the Far East. Not aircraft factories, but some reduced portion of everything else.

Whatever concoction I come up with for Japan I will balance with American numbers and earlier arrival dates so as to try to give either side the same chance of winning. Pure historicity is not what it's about. An enjoyable Slugfest is the goal :-)

Just to save you some time and effort, I suggest avoid using scenario #s that others have used. According to what I have on my machine the following scenarios #s are in use 1-25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 36, 40-46, 50, 56, 59, 69 and 70

To divert slightly, on the land war front I am thinking that a Pz-III equivalent might be good

Japan main problem was engines production, so with heavier tanks IF they could somehow get engines for them, they could probably produce them.

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along with something approximating to the PaK 40. Both are well within Japan's industrial capabilities.

This was more problem with projectile, not gun. They had quite good Type 90 75 mm Field Gun, but could not produce it with enough number. Shaped charge technology had to be smuggled from Germany in mid 1942.

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The Panzerfaust makes sense too, albeit not modelled directly.

Japan had something like this - Type 4 70mm AT rocket launcher there was even 3500 of them produced untill end of war. But considering range, it was not probably very accurate. Take a better look at their SMG, and semi-automatic rifles.

This scenario is still a long way off. I will probably only get round to doing the LCU devices at a late stage, if at all. Whatever I do, the bulk of the army will be exactly as it is in stock i.e. large but crap :-)

This scenario is still a long way off. I will probably only get round to doing the LCU devices at a late stage, if at all. Whatever I do, the bulk of the army will be exactly as it is in stock i.e. large but crap :-) "